Trivia for
The Living Daylights (1987) More at IMDbPro »

• The casting of Frederick Warder and Glyn Baker as 004 and 002 was intentional, due to their resemblance to George Lazenby and Roger Moore, respectively. For the movie's opening scene, the writers wanted to toy with the audience's expectations of which of the 00 agents was Bond.
  
  
• Timothy Dalton's first appearance as James Bond. Pierce Brosnan was the hot favorite to replace Roger Moore, was signed but then was ruled out because of his contractual obligations to "Remington Steele" (1982). Sam Neill was also considered as were Mel Gibson, Mark Greenstreet, Lambert Wilson (whose thick French accent disqualified him), Antony Hamilton, Findlay Light, Andrew Clarke and Sean Bean.
  
  
• In the opening scene at Gibraltar, real military installations were used. These included a Ministry of Defence road not open to the public. The machine gun nest on the airstrip was not authentic.
  
  
• Timothy Dalton was originally considered for the role of James Bond in the late 1960s, after Sean Connery left the role following You Only Live Twice (1967). Dalton was screen tested by Albert R. Broccoli for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) but he turned down the part as he thought he was too young. He was also considered for Diamonds Are Forever (1971) but turned it down again, still feeling he was too young. He was considered again for the role in For Your Eyes Only (1981) when for a time it was unclear whether Roger Moore would return. However, Dalton declined at that time, as there was no script (or even first draft). Dalton was offered the role again in 1983 for Octopussy (1983), and yet again in 1985 for A View to a Kill (1985), but had to decline the role both times due to previous commitments.
  
  
• Pierce Brosnan was originally chosen to play 007 in 1986 and was given the script to The Living Daylights (1987). Although he was contracted to "Remington Steele" (1982) for seven seasons, NBC decided to cancel the show at the end of the fourth season, which meant that Brosnan was free to play James Bond in The Living Daylights the following year. However, shortly after the end of the fourth season, NBC had second thoughts about canceling Remington Steele and subsequently approached the Bond producers directly, in an attempt to strike a deal that would allow Brosnan to play both James Bond and Remington Steele the following year. NBC also offered to completely reschedule the shooting of Remington Steele to ensure that there were no scheduling conflicts. But eventually, Albert R. Broccoli famously told NBC that "James Bond will not be Remington Steele and Remington Steele will not be James Bond." Accordingly, Brosnan would only play Bond if the show remained canceled. NBC had a 60 day deadline to revoke their decision to cancel Remington Steele series and at 6.30pm on the 60th day of the deadline, Brosnan learned that NBC decided to make a fifth season. The Bond producers subsequently prevented Brosnan from becoming the next James Bond. Instead, the role went to Timothy Dalton. NBC went on to make only six episodes of the fifth season of Remington Steele before finally canceling the show for good.
  
  
• Maryam d'Abo was originally hired only to appear in screen tests opposite actors screen testing for the role of the new James Bond. She had previously acted in the screen tests for For Your Eyes Only (1981) as well. When Maryam d'Abo was cast, Pierce Brosnan was still set to be the new James Bond.
  
  
• The Kamran Shah character was originally known as Ranjit Khan in earlier drafts of the script.
  
  
• The gourmet food contained in the picnic basket brought by James Bond to General Georgi Koskov at the Blayden Safe House included Bollinger RD Champagne, Caviar and Foie gras. The contents mentioned are pretty much the same as what James Bond has in his suitcase at the Shrublands Health Clinic in Never Say Never Again (1983) and Thunderball (1965).
  
  
• General Gogol is credited in the closing credits as General Anatol Gogol even though in the earlier James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) the M character called him by his first name naming him Alexis.
  
  
• "The Living Daylights" short story, the third short story in Ian Fleming's "Octopussy" (aka "Octopussy and the Living Daylights") collection is briefly referenced at the start of the earlier James Bond movie, Octopussy (1983). This is when a British agent is seen trying to escape from East to West Germany. This is where the original "Living Daylights" short story is set. The equivalent sequence in The Living Daylights (1987) movie is not set in East/West Germany but set in Czechoslovakia/Austria.
  
  
• "Octopussy and The Living Daylights" was the 14th and the final Ian Fleming James Bond book published in 1966. Sometimes released as just "Octopussy", it was the second posthumous book in the series after "The Man With The Golden Gun". Before he died, Fleming had intended to produce a second book of James Bond short stories like the "For Your Eyes Only" collection. "The Living Daylights" short story was first published in The London Sunday Times color supplement on 4 February 4 1962. Its working title was "Trigger Finger".
  
  
• Final Bond movie to date to show a bevy of women scene. Here it was a swimming pool full of girls in bikinis at Brad Whitaker's villa mansion.
  
  
• Brad Whitaker's personal war museum included busts and statues of himself dressed up as the following leaders of military history: Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Adolf Hitler, 'Napoleon Bonaparte', the Duke of Wellington and Gaius Julius Caesar.
  
  
• The woman who appeared in a white negligee in one of the movie's main posters was American model Kathy Stangel. She was allegedly paid $600 for this modeling job. This poster caused some controversy because it seemed to evoke violence against women, as the poster girl appeared at the end of a gun barrel. The Canadian University of Saskatchewan student newspaper actually refused to run the ad for the movie when the movie was going to play on campus - and the paper was apparently nearly closed down. However, the poster did not generate as much controversy as the one from For Your Eyes Only (1981).
  
  
• An ending similar to the one that featured a parody of Margaret Thatcher and Denis Thatcher in For Your Eyes Only (1981) was originally intended for the movie. It was to include instead a parody of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. However, the idea was scrapped.
  
  
• Nadim Sawalha who played the Tangier Chief of Security in this movie previously played Aziz Fekkesh in the earlier James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Peter Porteous who played the Gasworks Supervisor was the jewel forger Lenkin in Octopussy (1983). Joe Don Baker who plays the evil Brad Whitaker later played helpful CIAgent Jack Wade in GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
  
  
• The Red Cross organization in the USA, UK and Canada protested against the use of the Red Cross emblem and symbol in the movie. It can be seen on a helicopter during the escape from the Blayden House siege and later in the film on sacks containing opium. They maintained that it's use in the film was inappropriate and unauthorized. Interestingly, helicopters showing a Red Cross logo can be seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
  
  
• The four engine Lockheed Hercules C-130 plane was actually played by the smaller two engine C-123 Provider plane. This was because it was more cost efficient to rent the smaller engine plane. A model of the C-130 was used by special effects expert John Richardson for flying shots whilst close-ups of actors such as the net fight utilized the C-123 where one can actually see that it had two engines and not four.
  
  
• Features the only ever deliberate nude scenes in the James Bond film series outside of opening titles. They are when two men escape from a bombed building and when Pushkin's girlfriend's top is torn off in a hotel room.
  
  
• There are three parallels in the film to the earlier James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only (1981). These occur during the beginning of the film. Koskov is being detained and debriefed during lunch, he mentions Gogol's dislike for the new policy of détente. At the end of For Your Eyes Only (1981), Bond throws the ATAC off of the mountain and tells Gogol "That's détente General, You don't have it, I don't have it". In the kitchen of the very same building is a parrot that has a striking resemblance to Max, the Havelocks' parrot from For Your Eyes Only (1981). During the lunch, Koskov says of Pushkin, "We were once like brothers". In For Your Eyes Only (1981), Kristatos also uses the same line when speaking about Columbo.
  
  
• For a time, the General Pushkin character (played here by John Rhys-Davies) was intended to return in the next James Bond movie, Licence to Kill (1989).
  
  
• The literal translations of some of this film's foreign language titles include Spies Die At Dawn (Denmark); Danger Zone (Italy); 007: High Tension (Spain & Portugal); Death Is Not A Game / To Kill Is Not To Play (France); 007 And The Danger Zone (Finland); Icecold Mission (Sweden); Facing Death (Poland); His Name Is Danger (Chile); The Touch Of Death / The Breeze Of Death (West Germany); 007 In The Dangerous Zone (Israel/Hebrew); 007 Destined To Die (Brazil) and In The Line Of Fire (Norway)
  
  
• The literal translations of some of The Living Daylights (1987)'s foreign language titles include "Spies Die At Dawn" (Denmark); "007: High Tension" (Spain); "Death Is Not A Game" (France); "Icecold Mission" (Sweden); "His Name Is Danger" (Chile); "Breeze Of Death" (West Germany) and "007 In The Dangerous Zone" (Hebrew).
  
  
• The character of Kara Milovy played by Maryam d'Abo in the film The Living Daylights (1987) is suggested by the golden-haired cellist sniper known as "Trigger" in the original Ian Fleming short story "The Living Daylights". Ian Fleming is said to have based this character in the original short story on Amaryllis Fleming, his cellist half-sister. The sniper sequence in this movie is a fairly faithful adaptation of this short story. The original story read: "There was something almost indecent in the idea of that bulbous, ungainly instrument between her splayed thighs. Of course Suggia had managed to look elegant, and so did that girl Amaryllis somebody." Bond's assistant sniper Captain Paul Sender becomes Saunders in the film.
  
  
• Product placements, brand integrations and promotional tie-ins for this movie include Aston Martin Lagonda; Audi AG; Carlsberg Beer; Harrods; Bollinger Champagne; Cartier; Phillips Electronics; J&B Rare Scotch on red and yellow umbrellas in the opening sequence; Rolex Watches (Rolex Submariner 16800/168000); and the Domark video-game, The Living Daylights (1987) (VG).
  
  
• Cameo: [John Barry] composer appears as Kara's orchestra leader in the final scene.
  
  
• A deleted scene can be viewed on the UK region 2 DVD special edition showing James Bond (Timothy Dalton) using a carpet suspended on cables to escape across the rooftops in Tangiers. The scene gives the impression that it is a magic or flying carpet ride. The scene was cut prior to release to reduce the running time of the movie.
  
  
• The character of Pushkin was originally to have been General Gogol, a recurring character since The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Indeed, Pushkin is chief of the KGB, the very position Gogol held in previous appearances. A new character was created actor after Walter Gotell fell ill and producer Albert R. Broccoli could not get him insured. Gotell has said Broccoli even offered to pay an extensive sum personally but still could not get coverage. Pushkin's girlfriend was likewise supposed to be the secretary seen romancing Gogol in several films. Gotell was able to film a cameo as Gogol (now a member of the Soviet foreign office) for the end of the movie, marking that character's final appearance.
  
  
• Contrary to popular belief, the strange looking rifle Bond uses to shoot Kara is an actual rifle and not some prop designed for the movie. The rifle is a WA2000 sniper rifle, perfect for Bond since it's designed by Walther Firearms, maker of his classic PPK.
  
  
• During World War II, SMERSH (Smiert Spionam, death to spies) was a branch of the NKVD (later KGB), the Soviet secret police. In Ian Fleming's James Bond book series, a fictional SMERSH of the 1950s recruits villains such as Le Chiffre, Mister Big of Harlem, Colonel Rosa Klebb, Doctor Julius No, and Auric Goldfinger to its payroll. The Bond movies, seeking to improve Anglo-Russian relations, eliminate all references to SMERSH except for a one-liner in From Russia with Love (1963) and the subplot of this movie. An absurd SMERSH (an independent, non-Soviet criminal entity) appeared in the Bond parody Casino Royale (1967).
  
  
• A stuntman was originally going to play the role of The Impostor, the Russian assassin in Gibraltar at the beginning, but after watching rushes, director John Glen decided that they needed a real actor for the part and it was given to Carl Rigg. At the time, Rigg was out of work and staying home, taking care of his baby while his wife was away on business. Upon getting the call, Rigg left the baby with a neighbor, left his wife a note telling her he'd gone to be in a James Bond movie, and caught the next plane to Gibraltar to start filming.
  
  
• Cameo: [Michael G. Wilson] At the opera, sitting near Saunders, to the right of the lady with a white dress.
  
  
• The DVD was pulled out of circulation because the 15 year distribution license sold by Danjaq to MGM had expired and the rights could not be resolved in time for the release.
  
  
• Timothy Dalton was originally chosen to play Bond but had to pass on the role because he was committed to film Brenda Starr (1989). When Pierce Brosnan was forced to pull out, the resulting delay in filming allowed Dalton to finish his work on Brenda Starr and take on the new James Bond role.
  
  
• Early drafts of the script were written under the assumption that Roger Moore would return once more as Bond. The movie itself has a lot of the soft humour that Moore gave to the character. In the next James Bond movie, Timothy Dalton would give up this characteristic to play a more serious and deadly Bond.
  
  
• In the trailer, the woman on the boat in the pre-title sequence talks with her own voice before it was re-dubbed.
  
  
• This film marked the final occasion (to date) in which M's office is relocated to an unusual location - in this case an airplane. The gag dates back to You Only Live Twice (1967) but has not reappeared in any of the Bond films made since 1987, though The World Is Not Enough (1999) comes close (The Eilean Donan Castle, located near the Isle of Skye, West Scotland).
  
  
• Some unedited footage was stolen and videos were sold as if they were the completed movie. Albert R. Broccoli and the other producers then released a poster explaining that this copy of the movie was unfinished and had no soundtrack or special effects at all, saying that the only way to see the real movie was going to the cinema.
  
  
• The last film of Geoffrey Keen before his retirement from acting.
  
  
• Ken Sharrock worked three days.
  
  
• The Cello Case Chase sequence down the snow took three days to shoot. The cello was specially made of fibreglass, and fitted with control handles on the sides and skis underneath. Firecrackers were set in the snow to simulate gunfire and during filming the case would tend to topple over as Timothy Dalton was heavier than Maryam d'Abo. The exciting sequence was the brainchild of director John Glen who had to convince doubting colleagues Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson and Albert R. Broccoli. He did this by hopping into an actual orchestral cello case himself.
  
  
• The agents seen during the opening sequence were 002, 004 and 007 - James Bond. Timothy Dalton performed the opening sequence atop of a fast moving jeep going down the side of the Rock of Gibraltar himself.
  
  
• A coming next summer teaser poster issued a year before the movie was released portrayed a 1950s/1960s sports car fitted with a number plate with license number "007" and a tagline stating "Licensed to thrill."
  
  
• Alan Talbot was booked for three days but ended up working for two months.
  
  
• The rocket fired from the "ghetto blaster" in Q's lab was an effect activated off-screen by Britain's Prince Charles - who was touring the studio at the time of filming. The effects crew offered to allow Prince Charles to activate the rocket that was used in the final cut of the film.
  
  
• Was released in the 25th anniversary year of the James Bond films. To mark the occasion, a TV special Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond (1987) (TV) was produced as part of the promotional campaign for this film.
  
  
• Morten Harket, the lead singer of pop group A-Ha (who performed the title song), was offered a small role as a bad guy in the movie. He turned down the offer due to extensive touring in Japan.
  
  
• Gadgets included on the Aston Martin Volante featuring in the movie included a laser beam cutter, lower front firing automatic missiles, studded tyres, skis that protrude from under the doors, plane cockpit style head-up display, a special radio with multi-transmission accessibility, hinged number plates, bullet-proof glass, a rocket jet propulsion unit and self-destruct button.
  
  
• Vehicles featured included a gun-metal gray colored 1986 / 1987 5.3 liter Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante Series 2 seen in both coupé hard top and convertible soft-top editions; a Series III MOD British Army short-wheel base Land Rover; an Audi 100 Avant for 007 driving in Tangiers and a stone gray metallic Audi 200 Quattro as a defection getaway car; General Pushkin's two Mercedes-Benz Pullmann limousines; Army jeeps and trucks including a Soviet Army UAZ-469 jeep; a GMC Vandura Red Crescent Ambulance; various Lada models used as Slovakian Police cars: VAZ 2101, VAZ 2102, VAZ 2103, VAZ 2106; VAZ 2105 (vehicle that KGB spy waits in when Kara and Bond flee away from her apartment); a GAZ 3102 Volga (car in which Kara is taken away after picked from tram); a Lockheed Hercules C-130 cargo airplane; a British Aerospace Harrier T10 V/STOL; a Transport Allianz C-160 Transall aircraft; two Panhard AML 245 armored-cars; a land rover escape vehicle; a Vienna Tram; a Chevrolet Impala convertible; an Airporttractor with staircase; Iveco Ford Cargo truck; a VAB (Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé - Armoured Vanguard Vehicle) AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicle); a gas pipeline Scouring Pig for fast defections; a combo cello-cello case two-seater ski rig; a Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter with dummy Red Cross markings; and a Moonmaiden II Yacht for Bond dropping in during the opening sequence.
  
  
• Last James Bond movie to use an original Ian Fleming title until Casino Royale (2006), a gap of almost twenty years.
  
  
• The script was originally written with Roger Moore in mind, since it was thought that he would do one more before leaving the role. When Roger Moore announced in late 1985 that he would not be returning as Bond, the script was rewritten for Pierce Brosnan. Some of the humorous bits from the earlier draft remained however making the film much lighter than the next film, Licence to Kill (1989), which was written tailor made for Dalton's more serious take on the role.
  
  
• The name of the gas pipeline which crossed from Czechslovakia to Austria was the Trans Siberian Pipeline. The gas pipeline vehicle used for Koskov's defection escape is an actual piece of equipment known as a Scouring Pig. It is used to check and clean the natural gas pipeline between Western Europe and Russia. The apparatus was adapted though for the movie so as to be able to carry a person.
  
  
• Was the first James Bond film since Moonraker (1979) not to have its title announced during the closing end credits of the previous film. That was A View to a Kill (1985) and no Bond film has done so since.
  
  
• A Hercules is unable to taxi with its ramp lowered on the ground. During the escaped scene in Afganistan, the production team built the rear end of a Hercules on the back of a large furniture lorry, hence the different ramp design and narrower fuselage when Kara drives in. It was not a C-123 in these scenes as previously suspected.
  
  
• Timothy Dalton was officially announced as the new James Bond and to appear in this movie on 7 August 1986.
  
  
• As a thank you for supporting the production by loaning cars, Aston Martin chairman Victor Gauntlett was offered a small role as a KGB colonel, but did not have the time to play the part.
  
  
• This was the first appearance of the Felix Leiter character in the EON Productions official series since Live and Let Die (1973), a gap of fourteen years.
  
  
• This marks the first time Alec Mills was director of photography on a Bond film though he had first worked second unit 18 years before on On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
  
  
• This was the first Bond film to feature a different song over the closing credits. It was called "If There Was a Man" and was performed by The Pretenders who sang two songs for the movie, the other being "Where Has Everybody Gone?". The group were originally considered for the title song but, following the huge success of Duran Duran's song "A View to a Kill (1985)", it was decided to go with a "trendier" group. Chrissie Hynde of the The Pretenders also has sung a cover version of the Bond song "Live and Let Die (1973)" which can be heard on the David Arnold Bond song compilation album, "Shaken and Stirred: the David Arnold James Bond Project".
  
  
• Maryam d'Abo had previously tested for the role of Pola Ivanova in A View to a Kill (1985). Barbara Broccoli remembered her audition and recommended her for the role of Kara Milovy.
  
  
• This was originally proposed as a prequel to restart the Bond series, but the idea was dropped. It was taken up again with Casino Royale (2006) in 2006.
  
  
• Cameo: [Simon Crane] The Stuntman as Gibraltar Soldier No. #1.
  
  
• Cameo: [Paul Weston] The Stuntman as Gibraltar Soldier No. #3.
  
  
• The film's Royal World Premiere was held on 29th June 1987 at London's Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in the presence of British Royals Prince Charles and Princess Diana of England.
  
  
• Cameo: [Barbara Broccoli] As a soldier during the snow sequence.
  
  
• The first line of the Ian Fleming James Bond "The Living Daylights" short-story read: "James Bond lay at the five-hundred yard firing point of the famous Century range at Bisley." The last lines read: "James Bond said wearily, 'Okay. With any luck it'll cost me my Double-O number. But tell Head of Station not to worry. That girl won't do any more sniping. Probably lost her left hand. Certainly broke her nerve for that kind of work. Scared the living daylights out of her. In my book, that was enough. Let's go'."
  
  
• Naturally, with a movie that features orchestras and cellos, this Bond film features a number of pieces of classical music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 40th Symphony in G minor (1st movement only) is heard being played at the Bratislava Conservatoire during the defection sequence ; Antonín Dvorák's cello concerto in B minor as well as an opera are heard ; Aleksandr Borodin's s String Quartet No. 2 in D major is heard the second time James Bond is in the audience hearing Kara and the orchestra perform at the Bratislava Academy ; at the film's end, Kara is playing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations. The name of the opera that James and Kara watch together is "The Rivals" whilst the opera watched by Kara and James in Vienna is "Cosi Fan Tutti". These pieces of music are not included on the movie's soundtrack, naturally because they are only excerpted for the film.
  
  
• After this movie, James Bond does not visit the opera again in a Bond film until Quantum of Solace (2008) where the Te Deum scene and parts of Act 2 of the Opera "Tosca" are seen.
  
  
• The first official James Bond movie in 25 years not to feature Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. This is also the first Bond movie in the series to feature another actress - Caroline Bliss - in this role. In Warner Brothers' Never Say Never Again (1983), Pamela Salem officially became the very first actress other than Maxwell to play Miss Moneypenny in a straight Bond movie (Barbara Bouchet played Moneypenny in the Bond parody spoof Casino Royale (1967)).
  
  
• Although it is often assumed that James Bond wears a Rolex in this film because he does so subsequently in Licence to Kill (1989), no such was can be identified here. Only the bracelet on 007's "Tangier Rooftop Watch" can be seen (briefly). And his other timekeeper, the "Gibralter Watch", shows in close-up as clearly having a black case, black bracelet, and off-white dial: Definitely not a Rolex in that one.
  
  
• Kara Milovy (Maryam d'Abo) is, to date, the last "main" Bond girl to be blonde. All subsequent leading Bond girls have been brunettes or red-haired.
  
  
• In the finished movie Bond's escape from the Tangier police, following the assassination of Pushkin, ends with him jumping over rooftops and heading towards the town center. The scene originally ended with Bond sliding down a rug on top of telegraph wires (a "magic carpet") and landing on the back of a tradesman's motorcycle (a role played by stunt rider Eddie Kidd). The scene was removed due to the producers believing the comic element to be out of touch with the rest of the film, though it can be seen in full as a deleted scene on the DVD.
  
  

• SPOILER: First James Bond film where the fate of a main villain (Jeroen Krabbé as General Georgi Koskov) was to be arrested, although it is implied that he will be killed shortly thereafter.
  
  
• SPOILER: The sniper-duel scene is a reasonably straight adaptation of the eponymous Ian Fleming James Bond short-story. The rest of the film is a new creation. The tale of General Georgi Koskov was inspired by 1985's true-life defection of KGB agent Vitaly Yurchenko who soon shortly after re-defected back to the Soviet Union. The war in Afghanistan and Soviet politics also contributed to the movie's storyline.
  
  
• SPOILER: The plot relating to the embezzlement of Soviet funds by Soviet official General Georgi Koskov contains story elements used by Ian Fleming in the James Bond novel and film versions of "Casino Royale".
  
  

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